The newly-elected President of the Syrian Coalition Riad Seif said the recent field and regional developments will not affect the Syrian people’s demands for a full political transition that begins with the departure of Bashar al-Assad and the pillars of his regime.

Seif, who was elected President by the Coalition’s General Assembly on Saturday, said that there is a consensus among all revolutionary and opposition forces that “Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle must not have any role to play in the transitional period or in the future of Syria.”

In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Seif pointed out that the Syrian Coalition is the most convincing among all Syrian opposition bodies, pointing to the need to reforms and describing such a task as a priority.

The Coalition’s next step is to carry out the role assigned to it when it saw the light on November, 11, 2012, which is to lead the Syrian people and mobilize all efforts to overthrow the Assad regime and provide services to the Syrian people in the liberated areas.

The General Assembly on Saturday also elected Abdulrahman Mustafa and Salwa Aktaw as vice-presidents and Nazir Alhakim as secretary-general.

Seif, who was born in Damascus, is a prominent veteran dissident. He was arrested by the Assad regime two times before the Syrian revolution. He spent years in Assad’s prisons for his activities during the Damascus Spring. He was detained from 2008 to 2010, and was also arrested in early 2011 on charges of participating in anti-regime demonstrations. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)

President of the Syrian Coalition Riad Seif stressed the need to develop stronger relations with the European Union during a meeting with an EU foreign affairs advisor Lara Scarpitta at the headquarters of the Coalition in Istanbul on Monday.

Seif urged the EU for moral support to arrange quick and high-level visits to all EU countries. The new leadership of the Coalition will focus on boosting confidence and enhancing the Coalition’s credibility in the eyes of the Syrian people, Seif said.

"We nourish positive expectations, and now we have an opportunity to prove ourselves to the Syrian people," Seif said. He referred to “a 100-day plan to improve the performance of the Syrian Coalition, expand representation, and reach out to all civil and military groups and forces of the Syrian revolution and the opposition.”

Seif stressed that this plan will help the Coalition play a leading role and enable it to engage in a political process and achieve a political solution that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people.

Seif thanked the European Union for the support it provides to the Syrian interim government. He described the EU’s support as very important in light of the fact that the Assad regime’ war against the Syrian people has so far displaced nearly 14 million people and killed and wounded hundreds of thousands more. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)